To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

MORRISVILLE, N.C. – Instead of spending the afternoon watching television, about 25 middle school students from across the Triangle learned how a video signal gets into their home Thursday.

"It starts with when you film it, then it goes to satellites up in space, then it comes back down to your TV," explained Julian Brodie, 13.

Time Warner Cable employees spent Thursday afternoon demonstrating binary codes, satellite orbits and the transmission of data through coaxial and fiber optic cables. This was all done through hands-on experiments, which the kids said helped them learn more.

"I get to know how to do it," said sixth grader Brandon Panameno. "So, if I ever do anything like it in science, then I would know how to do it."

Thursday was the kickoff for Connect a Million Minds, a company initiative that has pledged $11 million to support North Carolina groups over the next five years. Time Warner Cable is the parent company of News 14 Carolina.

"We're going to be funding a lot of organizations who are focused on science and technology to help them reach into after-school programs, summer programs, science camps, math camps, and things like that," said company spokesman Keith Poston.

Poston added that many of the jobs in the future will require STEM-related training and education. So, it’s important to keep kids interested in the fields.

Victoria Crane, 11, said her favorite subjects in school are science and math, and she might consider a future profession in those fields.

"I think I might want to work for Time Warner Cable or something,” she said.

At the end of the day, the students left with a deeper understanding of what it takes to transmit data and video into their homes and schools.